I’ve been finding it hard to sit down and write about what we’ve been doing, so I’m going to shed some light on what it’s been like living just in the van for the past month and a half or so.
What has been easier than I expected?
- Staying comfortable
Sleeping and relaxing in the van has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. We were thinking that we may need to get a hotel room every few weeks to feel comfortable, but we really love being able to have our own space to go back to.
It was especially nice while we were in The Florida Keys. We spent a few days in Marathon and went to the beach first thing in the morning. We were able to swim while leaving Ruger in the van before it got too hot and then went back to eat lunch and take a nap before going back out to lie in the shade with Ruger. Not having to leave our primo spot in the middle of the day was excellent.
- Finding places to park
I was worried that it would be hard to find places to park and sleep at night without getting kicked out after researching the experiences of others already living the vandwelling lifestyle. So far the only place we’ve had any sort of issue was when we stopped at the last WalMart before The Keys. We stopped to get some ice for our cooler and a security guy in a truck drove up and said we couldn’t stay there overnight.
I know quite a few people try to park in residential areas where homeowners get annoyed, so being able to find quiet parking lots in shopping centers has probably helped in not getting kicked out.
- Staying connected
Before we set out on our travels I expected to only have internet if I brought my laptop or our iPad into a store or restaurant. Thankfully we’ve been able to stay pretty well connected thanks to a network of “CableWifi” hotspots that are through cable providers and shared between a few different companies.
We have also been able to connect from outside a few businesses we stop at, such as Planet Fitness and WalMart. To help with connecting through my laptop I purchased a USB WIFI adapter that came with a long range antenna. It’s not a huge improvement, but it makes the difference between being able to connect and not, which has been great.
What has been harder than expected?
- Eating healthy
While cooking in the van has been easier than I thought it would be, making meals using fresh veggies has been a little bit of a challenge due to our limited preparation space and cool storage capabilities. My sister and brother-in-law gave us a 12 volt cooler which has helped a ton for being able to keep things from spoiling quite so fast.
- Cost of living
We’re not spending as much on expenses as we used to thanks to not having a mortgage and utilities. On the other hand, we ended up spending more than we had planned on smaller things such as laundry and water for drinking and doing dishes. We’re going to have to find consistent income sooner than we were planning, though we have found a few places that we would like to go to look for work.
- Finding time to blog and make videos
Finding the motivation and energy to write blog posts and make videos has been virtually non existant. It’s not that we’ve been too busy to take the time, though days with longer driving or lots of sight seeing do tend to end with a long nap in the afternoon before a lazy evening.
I partially expected this aspect to be hard before we even left on our trip. In the past I had sacrificed enjoyment in the moment on trips or at parties in order to take photos that usually went unseen. When we were talking through our ideas of what living on the road would look like I decided that I was going to enjoy myself over taking photos, making videos or blogging. So, in the end, I’m not beating myself up over the lack of content. I have been taking photos here and there for recreation, I’m just not making it my “job”.
Shaking the Cage 